Ministry not founded on gifts

Bishop Humphrey Erumaka is the General Overseer of Word Base Assembly. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde he talks about life in the Ministry, challenges and the forthcoming crusade tagged my unbeatable God.

How has it been running your church for over twenty years?

The church clocked 20 years early this year and it has been a wonderful experience. When we started we were in a smaller church but we are now in this magnificent building. We have two other branches in Ejigbo and Magodo in Lagos. In addition , work is in progress in Lekki and we more expanse of Land. We also have branches in Owerri and Umuahia.

In the Ministry, I have travelled to all the continents of the world except Russia. We have also supported missionary work all over the world. For us the word of God has kept our church. We have stood on the clear veracity of the word. I believe that the Ministry is not founded on gifts but the word of God.

When did the call come for you?

I trained as a journalist and also practiced. In 1988, God called me to full time Ministry. For the first six years, I travelled for the Ministry and erected a building where we started from. The word of God is progressing and I never felt like quitting at any point but felt things could get better. Ministry is a journey of faith; you can’t do much without him showing up.

As a journalist how many Christian books have you written?

I have written ten Researched books. One of them titled, Restoring Mandate Dignity won the triumphant award in North Carolina. The latest called Book of Errors won another ward. One of my classics is titled Divine Power deposits and the best is called Sustainable friendship. Interestingly, one individual has printed over 12,000 copies and shared free.

What are some of the challenges in the Ministry?

Most of the common challenges are meeting up budget to schedule project dates starring at you. If you start trusting him, he would not abandon you midway.

How would you describe the state of the nation at the moment?

The situation appears unstable especially regarding the presidential elections in parts where Boko Haram has exercised damages. It is more of a national disaster. I have been to top clergy meetings where we donated money in good measure to send to our brothers in the North. We are doing our best but how much can you help a man who has lost house, family and more. When there is peace things would be restored. There is war, whatever you give is a relief. We need the crisis in the North to stop and we must stop politicizing it.

In spite of the fact that there are many churches, unrighteousness is still the order of the day. Why is this so?

That is not in the absolute sense. Put the other way, you can imagine what would have happened if there are no churches. People do not need the church to be righteous. You have the positional righteousness which you receive from Christ as a free gift. The Bible says he that is Righteous doeth good and has right consciousness. A Muslim can be right conscious but that does not give him the positional consciousness. When a people in a nation are righteous then righteousness exalts a nation. A lot of people have the positional righteousness but you have to teach them to be right conscious.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

At the moment we are working on our annual Festival of Power and Prayer Crusade which would take place from 4th to 11th January. It is not all about the church but the community. It is a period when we open our doors to members of the public. Over the years a number of testimonies abound to the extent that it is now the community that demands for it. The theme for the next edition of the program is tagged My Unbeatable God.

Our God never fails. We have done it for 6 years and it is usually a time to wait on God to start the year on a positive note. It is better to wait on the lord because if you do not do it HIS way, you may go round looking for what God has placed just next door to you. Prayer is a two way thing and it is better to pray and ask for direction. The program is interdenominational and we have a number of speakers that includes Sam Ihenacho from Enugu, pastor Diallo from Canada and friends from within the country. For music we have people like Frank Edwards, Sharon and David Moore for our all praise night on Friday. In terms of security everything is intact; we have surveillance gadgets, police and vigilante groups involved.

What are some of the testimonies from previous programs?

Over the years we have had a number of cases of healing; declarations are made in terms of God’s blessings and breakthroughs. A number of people who have been married without children come the following year with their own children. We also have cases of those who did not come to the program but they were touched in their homes as well as those who built properties within the year. Of course, there are also testimonies about the testimonies about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and people who also got clear cut instructions that led to relocation.

If you are the president of Nigeria, what would you do differently?

The greatest challenge in Nigeria is poverty and it is orchestrated by corruption. Nigerians are not lazy but the opportunities and facilities are not favorable. In China, people are running factories from their garage but here we have issues with electricity. This leads to restiveness and make our youth available tools.